Mushtaq Ahmed
Writer Ahmed was arrested alongside ten people under the Digital Security Act for writing online about the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. After nearly 11 months in detention,… More
Azimjon Askarov
Askarov died July 25, 2020 after contracting pneumonia in Kyrgyz state custody. He was serving a life sentence for alleged involvement in ethnic violence, a charge understood as politically-motivated… More
Yang Tongyan Yang Tianshui
Persecuted for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Yang spent over two decades in prison for counter-revolutionary activity, from 1990-2000 and 2005-2017. He died of brain cancer… More
Kitzito Mihigo
Musician Mihigo was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly plotting to kill President Paul Kagame and for inciting hate against the government. He was pardoned… More
Haji Mirzahid Kerimi
Kerimi, former Kashgar Publishing House staff, was arrested and detained for his role in publishing books deemed “problematic” for their “improper” political content, and was handed an 11-year suspended… More
Liu Xiaobo
A pro-democracy activist and writer, Liu was arrested in 2009, charged with “inciting subversion of state power,” and sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2010 for penning seven… More
Yang Tongyan | Status: Death in Custody | China
A writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, Yang Tongyan was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for “subversion of state power,” and died in November 2017 while… More
Liu Xiaobo | Status: Death in Custody | China
Liu Xiaobo, a renowned literary critic, writer, political activist, and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was charged with "inciting subversion of state power," and sentenced to 11-years in prison… More
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PEN America On 
NEW: We welcome the launch of PEN Belarus’s report, “Monitoring of Violations of Cultural and Human Rights Against Cultural Workers,” which documents the persecution of writers, artists, poets & other cultural figures between January & September 2021. https://bit.ly/3G0YBm0
